Modern Day Pirates Attack Guyanese Off South American Coast

Guyanese fishermen are a big target for pirates lurking off the South American coast near Suriname.

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thurs. July 17, 2014: ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’  the movie, seems to be playing out live off the seas of Guyana. Modern day pirates are being blamed as four Guyanese fishermen have disappeared from their boat off the seas near the coasts of the South American nation and its neighbor, Suriname.

The country’s Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy said the attack reportedly occurred off the coast of neighboring Suriname.

The fishing boat’s captain claims he jumped into the Atlantic Ocean as the vessel was being boarded by machete-wielding bandits who then attacked his four crewmates and apparently dumped their bodies overboard.

The blood-spattered boat was recently found drifting at sea near De Hoop, Mahaica but the bodies of the four men – Andrew, of Lusignan, Dinesh also known as Monkey Brain, of Uitvlugt, Raymond Gomes, 37, and Chandrapaul Jallim, 19, both of Recht-door-zee, West Bank Demerara – have yet to be  recovered.

Ramsammy is calling for greater cooperation between Guyana and Suriname in combating piracy.

Guyana’s fishermen have complained for years about pirates who seize catches and equipment and sometimes their boats. The pirates play hide and seek with the occasional coast guard patrols but they largely have free rein on the seas and there are sometimes deadly consequences.